Thanks Dad! That Savior Redeemer of My Soul song might be my new favorite. And Timo, oh gosh! New York is just the best, isnt it? I agree that Lion King was absolutely incredible and I actually didn't love Spiderman--the first half was pretty good but after that, well yeah, it just got weird. Also, look up the music video for "I feel better" by Hot Chip and look for Doctor Armstrong at the end of the video. Also, enjoy the rest of it because it's pretty hilarious. Oh, and Carnegie Deli...heaven. Mom, still no Valentine's day package. Who knows what's going on, but whatever.
It was another rough week, but not because of the companion, thank goodness. Elder A is super awesome. He's kind of quiet and shy, but he's a hard worker and is exciting to get things moving again around here. He's got a great attitude and it's really helped a lot. We're going to have success.
We need them (the members) to really understand the gospel so that they are good examples to the investigators and so that they can teach their children how to act. We have been handing out pamphlets of the restoration and telling them that we will come back in a few days so that they can teach us the Restoration. I think it's going to work well.
It's been a struggle to find investigators. We've been getting a lot of referrals, just not very good ones. For example, we went to contact one, and this guy came out of his house super angry. We tried to contact him, but he was too mad to listen. He demanded to know what authority we had, and when we explained to him he said a bunch of apostasy and got even madder. To avoid the spirit of contention, we left as he kept screaming at us, calling us "borreguitos" (little goats) and a lot of other things that I won't mention here. Poor guy. That's just kind of how this week went. But, we've kept having success with less actives. Another member who hadn't been to church in about 18 years came this Sunday, and her husband and three kids aren't members, so that could be good.
I have been thinking a lot about unity lately, with all these problems we have in the branch here. I've learned a lot. We've been trying to put more emphasis in the first point of lesson 1--God is our loving Heavenly Father--trying to make sure that everyone understands that Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to become like Him. Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are one and their whole purpose is to make us one with them. You can see that pattern in everything we do in the church; for example, the Sacrament. It's a covenant that we make with our Father that we will remember His Son so that he gives us his Spirit. The Atonement is the way that we can become one with them--just look at the word and what it means. When Christ suffered for all our sins, pains, and afflictions, he did it individually, for each one of us, and became One with everyone. Through Christ's Atonement, we can become more like our Father as the Spirit works a change in our hearts. And since Christ is one with everyone, as we become more like Him we too become more united with others. We can feel the Father's love for them and see in them what He sees. The Atonement is the answer for all the disunity and misunderstandings in our lives. Moses 7:18 says "And the Lord called His people Zion, because they were of One heart and One mind." Put the Atonement into effect in your lives so that we can establish Zion, so that we can be at one with our Father and with His children.
I know Christ lives and that His Atonement is real. This is his church, and nothing can stop his work. I love you all and thank you for your love and prayers! Have a great week! Bye!
Elder Pew
